Exploring the distance between nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in mesotrophic surface waters using a sensitive bioassay.

Hrustic, Enis, Lignell, Risto, Riebesell, Ulf and Thingstad, Tron Frede (2017) Exploring the distance between nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in mesotrophic surface waters using a sensitive bioassay. Open Access Biogeosciences (BG), 14 (2). pp. 379-387. DOI 10.5194/bg-14-379-2017.

[thumbnail of bg-14-379-2017.pdf]
Preview
Text
bg-14-379-2017.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Download (1MB) | Preview
[thumbnail of bg-14-379-2017-supplement.pdf]
Preview
Text
bg-14-379-2017-supplement.pdf - Supplemental Material
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Download (200kB) | Preview

Supplementary data:

Abstract

The balance in microbial net consumption of nitrogen and phosphorus was investigated in samples collected in two mesotrophic coastal environments: the Baltic Sea (Tvärminne field station) and the North Sea (Espegrend field station). For this, we have refined a bioassay based on the response in alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) over a matrix of combinations in nitrogen and phosphorus additions. This assay not only provides information on which element (N or P) is the primary limiting nutrient, but also gives a quantitative estimate for the excess of the secondary limiting element (P+ or N+, respectively), as well as the ratio of balanced net consumption of added N and P over short timescales (days). As expected for a Baltic Sea late spring–early summer situation, the Tvärminne assays (n =  5) indicated N limitation with an average P+ =  0.30 ± 0.10 µM-P, when incubated for 4 days. For short incubations (1–2 days), the Espegrend assays indicated P limitation, but the shape of the response surface changed with incubation time, resulting in a drift in parameter estimates toward N limitation. Extrapolating back to zero incubation time gave P limitation with N+ ≈  0.9 µM-N. The N : P ratio (molar) of nutrient net consumption varied considerably between investigated locations: from 2.3 ± 0.4 in the Tvärminne samples to 13 ± 5 and 32 ± 3 in two samples from Espegrend. Our assays included samples from mesocosm acidification experiments, but statistically significant effects of ocean acidification were not found by this method.

Document Type: Article
Funder compliance: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/603773
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB2 Marine Biogeochemistry > FB2-BI Biological Oceanography
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: Yes
Publisher: Copernicus Publications (EGU)
Projects: OCEAN-CERTAIN, SOPRAN, BIOACID, Future Ocean
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2017 10:47
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2020 09:09
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/37381

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item